Pain

Today's been a really good day. It's warmer and I wore a skirt and flip flops for the first time all year.

Have you all heard the song "Friday" by Rebecca Black? Look it up on youtube. It is the worst song you will probably ever hear in your life. Or at least pretty far down there. But tomorrow's Friday; actually, in half an hour it will be Friday. I'm really excited. Sort of. Not excited for the music lit test I'm not going to do well on, or for theory class, or really anything before music lit. Afterward it'll only be uphill though. Hanging out with Cru people and hopefully seeing Patrick. Why am I telling you all this? You don't need to know my life...

I've been thinking about pain the past couple days a little. Why do we go through pain? Why do bad things happen to good people? We could talk about this all day, but I'm going to narrow in. The other night, a girl in my Bible study said, Sure, going through hard times can help you grow, but it can also tear you apart and you're worse off because of it. Why would God let tat happen? To this I replied, yes, but when you go through pain you make a choice. Do you want to use it to become better and let it make you stronger and wiser, or are you going to let it shred you up and tear you down? Are you going to trust in God's plan or are you going to reject it? So you make a choice.

My soul praises the Lord when I think about my pain:

1) It is so, so much less than so many other people are dealing with right now. When I look at my life compared to almost anyone else's life, I realize how greatly blessed I am, but I complain about this one little thing that isn't right and I think that one little thing is everything and that my world is falling apart. On the contrary, I am insanely blessed.

2) I know that because of it, I'm getting better. I'm learning. I'm growing. I'm getting stronger. This isn't the last time I'll feel pain. Later it will probably be worse. I'm going to need this experience so I can be strong enough to get through what's to come. And I'm building wisdom (hopefully), so maybe I'll look back on this and understand, and use that knowledge for my situation then.

3) It's temporary. Someday, some glorious day, my pain will end forever. I have to go through this life with pain no matter what. We all do. So, I might as well go through that pain knowing that one day it will be over forever. I would much rather that than go through life not knowing what's to come or even expecting the pain to never end. Not knowing what happens when I'm going to die. Or worse, thinking I'm heaven-bound and then finding out I was gravely mistaken after it's too late. No. My pain will end. Paradise will ensue. Pain is bearable. Life is awesome.

God bless.